Tribute to a native son

In Manteca, a local serviceman's visage debuts on mobile memorial

MANTECA - Nikki Freitas has spent the past three Memorial Day weekends visiting the gravesite of her son, James Layton, a 22-year-old Navy corpsman who died in Afghanistan on Sept. 8, 2009, with three Marines.

MANTECA - Nikki Freitas has spent the past three Memorial Day weekends visiting the gravesite of her son, James Layton, a 22-year-old Navy corpsman who died in Afghanistan on Sept. 8, 2009, with three Marines.

On Sunday, though, instead of being surrounded by family and close friends, Freitas felt the support of a community as her son's image was debuted in the 12th and latest panel of the "Welcome Home Heroes Tribute," a 16,000 square-foot moveable structure that honors the soldiers who've died in the war on terror. James Layton's is one of 6,665 names on the panels, including more than 60 from within 50 miles of Woodward Park, where thousands gathered Sunday to pay their respect.

Families with children, veterans of other wars, a melting pot of the community lined the path for members of Gold Star Families - those who've lost members in war - to walk through.

"As we were coming here, people were on the street waving," said Brent Layton, father of James Layton, who lives in Escalon.

He's attended the gathering in Manteca, the brainchild of Manteca's First Assembly of God pastor and Vietnam veteran Mike Dillman, every year since his son's death.

"The first year, it was tough to smile. Every year it gets to be more about celebrating," Brent Layton said.

That might offer some comfort to Romel Mathias, who made the trip from Twain Harte for the first Memorial Day event since her son, 32-year-old Air Force Maj. Lucas Gruenther, died after ejecting from his F-16 during a training exercise out of Aviano Air Base in Italy on Jan. 28, 10 days before the birth of his daughter, Serene.

"I just wanted to meet other people that lost loved ones," Mathias said, breaking into tears. "This is very difficult for me. This day is wonderful to honor them."

Strangers offered words of thanks and encouragement to Gold Star family members after the brief ceremony that was the center point of the daylong celebration that included a 5K run, a car show and closing with a fireworks extravaganza.

Mathias noted that the Air Force has offered comfort to the family, but "there's really nothing they can do."

Seeing more than a thousand strangers turn out to pay tribute was a salve for the hearts of parents, siblings and spouses.

"It's kind of a healing thing," Freitas said of the event that has traditionally drawn about 20,000 people during the course of the day. "It's taken 3 1/2 years, but I'm finally starting to feel better. I would love to participate and be a part of this. ... This is so fabulous. For so many people to come out and for pastor to do this."

Brent Layton has appreciated the event since he first attended in 2010, but to have his son honored with his image on the memorial was a thrill.

"You look at the panels, and the names alone overwhelm you," he said. "To see the faces on some of those panels, and this year, to see my son, it makes me proud."

James Layton served as a corpsman, described by military leaders on Sunday as a Marine's best friend. When a Marine is injured, a corpsman runs to help, disregarding the danger to himself. That suited Layton.

"He had healing hands," Brent Layton said. "I took him fishing when he was young and he made sure the fish were patched up. He was always caring and loving. He was also one to fight, when it came to joining the Navy and stepping up to the plate. Corpsmen are the bravest of the brave. He was very caring and loving, a good balance of being tough and loving."

James Layton also loved to play the guitar, just like his dad. He dreamed of someday opening a recording studio. If Brent Layton can swing it financially some day, he plans to do just that, in his son's name.

For now, though, James Layton is honored in the traveling memorial. He wears a sailor's cap, his Navy blues, and an impish smile in the portrait that graces the 12th panel.

Those panels are designed to hold as many as 600 names, which the preceding panels in the project do, but Dillman noted there are about half that number on the newest panel. He takes that as a good sign, that fewer members of our military were lost in the past year.

There may be fewer of them, but each name represents a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a friend. Each loss is heartbreaking.

When the ceremony ended, Mathias approached the panel and found the name of her son, Lucas Gruenther. She lovingly ran her fingertips across the letters and let her tears come, naturally.